RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Kyle Soper collected his fourth NASCAR Modified championship in the last five years at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday night when he won the 50-lap feature event.
Soper made it his 29th career win as well, moving him to 11th on the all-time win list. Soper recently clinched another New York State NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship on the strength of his four-win season in the Wayne & Joette Anderson owned machine.
Chris Turbush led early over Chris Rogers who ran second for the first three laps of the contest. Soper, who started seventh in the 16-car field, made his way by Rogers for second on lap four. Just seconds after that pass, the yellow flew, slowing the race.
When the field was realigned, Turbush chose the outside, giving Soper the bottom. When the race resumed, Soper motored out to the race lead to start the fifth lap. Once out front, Soper and his team had the Eastport Feeds Chevy on rails and he’d lead the remaining 45 laps unchallenged.
Chris Turbush crossed the line second in the Lolly’s Hut Chevy, with Dylan Slepian of Dix Hills third in the Eastport Feeds entry, earning him runner-up in the championship chase.
“Just can’t say enough about Wayne and Joette, my dad and this team, this things was flawless tonight,” Soper said afterwards. The winner also disclosed his fall racing plans, “We’ll go to Thomsson in two weeks and then of course try to get another Islip 300 win here on November 12th”.
In a marathon 40-lap late model finale, Dave Brigati closed out the campaign the same way he started it with his second win of the year — he also won the season opener.
Ed Cheslak showed the way for the first four laps until Dave Brigati, who started sixth, ducked under Cheslak for the lead exiting turn four as the field came to start lap six. Brigati seemed to be on cruise control until lap 22 when Mark Stewart came from 14th to pass Brigati to the outside for the lead.
Stewart led until lap 27 when Brigati reclaimed the lead, a lead he would not again surrender en route to his eighth career win in the Coors Light Chevy. Mark Stewart impressed with a runner-up finish in the Foos Fire entry while Shawn Patrick recovered from an early race spin to rally for a third place finish in the Matlach Fabricating racer.
With his third place showing Shawn Patrick, a 30-year veteran of the racing wars clinched his first ever late model championship.
NASCAR Modified Feature
1. Kyle Soper 2. Chris Turbush 3. Dylan Slepian 4. Jack Hanldey Jr. 5. Justin Brown 6. Dave Brigati 7. Chris Rogers 8. Owen Grennan 9. Chris Young 10. Eric Zeh 11. Howie Brode 12. Matt Brode 13. John Beatty Jr. 14. Brian Brown 15. Artie Pedersen III 16. Jason Agugliaro
Late Model Feature
1. Dave Brigati 2. Mark Stewart 3. Shawn Patrick 4. Brian Doyle 5. Ed Cheslak 6. Jeremy McDermott 7. Gerard Lawrence 8. Scott Cheslak 9. Ray Minieri 10. Frank Dumicich Jr. 11. Paul Cummings 12. Brandon Turbush 13. Brian Brown 14. Rusty Turbush 15. Jimmy Rennick Jr. 16. Kevin Metzger 17. Chris McGuire 18. Alyssa Paprocky DQ- Russ Jansen